Oculus (2014)
Starring Karen Gillan, Brenton Thwaites, Katee Sackhoff, Rory Cochrane, Annalise Basso, and Garrett Ryan
Directed by Mike Flanagan
An evil mirror causes the members of the Russell family to fall apart and become horrible versions of themselves in
Oculus, a horror film that had potential but failed to deliver any bit of scares to make it worth your time. Bouncing back and forth between the 1990s when the Russell kids Kaylie and Tim (Annalise Basso and Garrett Ryan) were young and the current era when they're grown (played by Karen Gillan and Brenton Thwaites),
Oculus begins in the modern day with Tim being released from jail and Kaylie stealing a large mirror from an auction house. Odd, yes, but we soon discover that Tim killed his father (hence the jail time) with Karen believing that this hundreds-year old mirror changed the perspective of their parents Alan and Marie (Rory Cochrane and Katee Sackhoff), causing them to become wicked to one another and their children. With Tim's help, Karen hopes to document the mirror's supernatural powers and destroy the glass before it harms anyone else.
While the premise is silly, I must admit that it pulled me in. Unfortunately, after I was enticed by the lack of ghosts and blood and violence, the film never really went anywhere. Surprisingly, tension never mounts in the "past" story as we're told almost from the beginning how that pans out, and unfortunately the "present" story wears a little thin.
Oculus attempts to blend the two tales together in a way I won't delve into here, but I found that this didn't work after the film's initial attempts. All of the actors are of a high quality, but they can't elevate this story which just didn't scare me in the slightest.
The RyMickey Rating: D+
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